Method and apparatus for forming hollow paper sticks

ABSTRACT

A paper stick-forming device which converts a paper sheet into a hollow stick suitable for lollipop handles, pencils, and other short stick applications. The paper sheet is first introduced into a cutoff device where portions having the proper length are cut from the sheet. Then the portions are curled by supporting them on a polyurethane covered roll and by passing them under a curling wire comprising a hard, thin cylinder of tungsten carbide. The roller which supports the curling wires also includes open circular recesses between each wire for storing the rolled paper portions until they are delivered to a belt conveyor.

[11 3,862,591 [4 1 Jan. 28, 1975 METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR FORMING HOLLOW PAPER STICKS [75] Inventor: Edward D. Cottrell, Cataraugus,

[73] Assignee: Champion International Corporation, New York, N.Y.

[22] Filed: Jan. 7, 1974 [21] Appl. No.: 431,056

[52] [1.8. Cl 93/94 R, 93/1 C, 93/81 MT, 242/D1G. 3 [51] Int. Cl. B310 5/00 [58] Field of Search 93/94 R, l C, 77 R, 81 R, 93/81 MT, 83, 1 R; 242/D1G. 3; 53/212 [56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,730,675 10/1929 Meyer 93/1 C X 2,308,538 1/1943 Decker 93/1 C 2,424,540 7/1947 Bogoslowsky 93/81 R 2,471,447 5/1949 Perkins 93/1 C 2,573,188 10/1951 Dyken 242/D1G. 3 2,699,098 l/l955 Lyons 93/1 C 3,155,016 11/1964 Pellicone ct al. 93/1 C Primary Examiner-Roy Lake Assistant Exuminer.lames F. Coan Atmrney, Agent, or FirmEvelyn M. Sommer; James M. Hcilman; Anthony .1. Casella [57] ABSTRACT A paper stick-forming device which converts a paper sheet into a hollow stick suitable for lollipop handles, pencils, and other short stick applications. The paper sheet is first introduced into a cutoff device where portions having the proper length are cut from the sheet. Then the portions are curled by supporting them on a polyurethane covered roll and by passing them under a curling wire comprising a hard, thin cylinder of tungsten carbide. The roller which supports the curling wires also includes open circular recesses between each wire for storing the rolled paper portions until they are delivered to a belt conveyor.

10 Claims, 3 Drawing Figures METHOD AND APPARATUS FOR FORMING HOLLOW PAPER STICKS BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Supporting sticks made of wood have been used in many applications such as lollipop handles, cotton swabs, and handles for ice cream. Wooden handles have presented a problem of possible injury to children, due to the rigidity of the wood. Several types of safety handles which can be bent or flexed have been proposed but such supporting means have generally been too flexible to support the affixed material.

The present invention is a device for forming hollow paper sticks, made of cheap material, of light weight, large enough to handle easily, but sturdy enough to withstand rough usage.

The invention herein described is an improvement over the convoluting device shown in U.S. Pat, No. 2,471,447, issued May 31, 1949, to H. A. Perkins.

One of the features of the present invention is the speed with which hollow paper sticks can be made. Starting from a single coil of paper, the paper is cut to length,rolled into a tight hollow cylinder, and then dropped on a conveyor.

Another feature of the invention resides in the composite action of the machinery involved. A first pair of rolls cuts the paper into sections and directs these sections to a curling position where the paper is curled into a hollow cylinderby a simple burnishing action on one surface of the paper. The same roller which supports the burnishing wires also includes recesses for carrying the convoluted paper away from the burnishing position and depositing it upon a conveyor or dropping it into a storage container. Thereafter, the convolutes are processed through a compacting area for reduction to the proper diameter and sealing of the stick.

Additional details of the invention will be disclosed in the following description, taken in connection with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES Rolls 14 and 15 are mounted in contact with each other and receive the paper sheet 16 from a storage roll (not shown). Roll 15 may be made of metal and is formed with three logitudinal slots 17 which cooperate with a series of knives 18 to cut the paper into predetermined lengths. Roll 14 is preferrably made with a metal core surrounded by a rubber covering. It is necessary to grip the paper firmly since other rolls are designed to produce a tension on the paper sheet at the cutoff point.

A cutoff roll 18 is positioned adjoining the steel roll 15 and is provided with a plurality of knives 20 firmly secured to the roll 18 and adjusted to enter slots 17 when the device is actuated. In order to keep the paper lengths in their desired paths, :1 series of guide wires 21, fastened to an anchor bar 22, extend downwardly past the cutting point. Roll 18 is formed with a series of annular grooves 23 to accomodate the guide wires 21 and the knives 20 are also formed with slots for the same reason. A similar arrangement of rolls and knives are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 2,471,447, FIGS. 2 and 3.

After being cut into lengths, the paper sections 16 are directed downwardly by the guide wires 21 and a stripper rod 24 into the junction of rolls 25 and 26. Roll 25 is preferrably a steel roll while roll 26 is formed of a steel core 27, having an aluminum shell 28, and an outer rubber covering 30. Rolls 25 and 26 both revolve and move at a peripheral speed which is slightly greater than the peripheral speed of rolls 14 and 15. This arrangement keeps the paper under considerable tension at the cutoff point and when the knives 20 enter the paper 16, the paper is ripped apart at the portions adjoining the knife slots.

After leaving the junction of rolls 25 and 26, the paper section 16 is directed to the place where a small burnishing cylinder 31 is in pressure contact with the rubber covering 30 of roll 26. Burnishing cylinder 31 is secured to the extremity of a star wheel 32 and a plurality of similar burnishing cylinders 31 are mounted in spaced array around the wheel 32 as shown in all three figures. Intermediate the burnishing cylinders 31, the wheel 32 includes circular recesses 33 designed for col- IBCIlTH! Ihfi (firlVfilHfPd nanpr ctinlzc and Fnr nnnupuinn until a double roll convolute is formed as indicated by the dotted line 36, also in FIG. 1. The action continues until all of sheet 16 has been burnished. Then the star wheel starts to turn, and another length of paper 16 is driven into the convoluting space. This condition is shown in FIGS. 2 and 3 with the curled paper 37 held in one of the recesses 33. The action continues as more paper sheets are cut off and curled by the burnishing action, and as the star wheel moves to carry more curled paper sticks from the burnishing point. The sticks are held in the recesses 33 by a stripper rod 38 until they are dropped onto a conveyor belt 40 (see FIG. 1).

Hollow paper sticks made on devices such as described above are strong, light, and require a minimum of paper for fabrication. It has been found that the device is capable of high speed, fabricating 800 sticks per minute. If desired, paper 16 may be coated with a suitable adhesive prior to or at the time of processing through the subject apparatus in order to achieve bonding of the inner convolutions of the curled paper 37.

The subject method comprises the steps of cutting lengths of sheet, passing the sheets through the nip of two contacting surfaces (burnishing cylinder 31 and rotating drive roll 26 that is covered with a flexible material such as rubber or polyurethane) to cause curling thereof, and then conveying the curled paper sections to another work station. The subject method of convoluting produces a convolute that is free from creases thereby permitting a tight wind of the inner convolutions to achieve a satisfactory bending strength of the cylindrical paper stick thus formed.

It is also noted that the use of an indexing star wheel 32 having recesses 33 to accomodate the convoluted paper sticks 37 provides an arrangement wherein the paper sticks 37 are retained in the recesses 33 for a period of time prior to being moved to conveyor 40. This period of time permits the insertion of another rod-like material (i.e. wire, pencil lead, etc.) into the curled stick 37 which could then be conveyed to a compacting area and tightly wound into the center of the stick. Possible uses of the subject method and apparatus may be for manufacturing pencils, capacitors, resistors, etc.

Attached hereto and forming a part of the specification are two photostats, each depicting three actual photographs of apparatus for testing the principle of the invention as well as selected sheets (sheets 1, 9, 18, 37, 40, 41, 42, 43, 48, 53, and 60) of 60 sheets showing the convolution sequence according to the teaching of the invention. The attached material is included to dramatically visually portray, and as extensions of, the verbal statements in the specification, and thereby avoid clouding the more important disclosure set forth in the sole sheet of drawing.

The embodiments of the invention, in which an exclusive property or privilege is claimed, are defined as follows:

1. A device for producing hollow rod-like articles by forming tightly convoluting sections of a flexible sheet comprising: a cutoff means for providing sheets of predetermined length; burnishing means for compacting one surface of each sheet to produce a curl therein, said burnishing means including a driver roller for receiving and propelling each sheet through a curling po sition, and a smooth burnishing cylinder positioned in resilient contact with the sheet as it is driven through the curling position for forming a convolute hollow rod-like article.

2. A device as claimed in claim 1 wherein said cutoff means includes a driver roll for moving a continuous flexible sheet and a cutoff roll having a plurality of knives secured to its periphery.

3. A device as claimed in claim I wherein said driver roller has a resilient outer surface for providing a resistive contact with the flexible sheet while moving the sheet through the curling position.

4. A device as claimed in claim I wherein said burnishing cylinder is one ofa plurality ofburnishing cylinders, equally spaced on a rotatable wheel.

5. A device as claimed in claim 4 wherein said rotatable wheel is a star wheel formed with recesses intermediate the burnishing cylinders for receiving and temporarily storing the convoluted articles formed in the curling position.

6. A device as claimed in claim 4 wherein said rotatable wheel is coupled to an intermittent linkage which retains the rotatable wheel in a position where one of said burnishing cylinders is in contact with the sheet moved through the curling position by the driver roller, and then moves the rotatable wheel to a new position where an adjacent burnishing cylinder is in contact with the driver roller.

7. A device as claimed in claim 5 wherein a stripping rod is positioned adjacent to said star wheel for retaining the convoluted articles in the recesses in the star wheel until the articles are adjacent to a conveyor means.

8. A method for forming hollow rod-like articles from a continuous web of paper sheet material comprising the steps of:

passing the web of paper sheet through a cutoff means where sections of a predetermined length of paper sheet are sequentially formed;

sequentially curling each length of paper sheet by passing same through the nip of a stationary burnishing cylinder and a rotatable, resiliently faced driver cylinder; and

sequentially moving each curled length of paper sheet to an accessible position.

9. A method as claimed in claim 8 wherein said cutoff operation includes passing the paper web through the junction of two rollers, one of which supports spaced radial knives and the other is formed with cooperating slots.

10. A method as claimed in claim 8 wherein the curled lengths of paper sheet are moved by a star wheel that is intermittently held stationary during a curling operation and then moved to a new position while removing the curled section. 

1. A device for producing hollow rod-like articles by forming tightly convoluting sections of a flexible sheet comprising: a cutoff means for providing sheets of predetermined length; burnishing means for compacting one surface of each sheet to produce a curl therein, said burnishing means including a driver roller for receiving and propelling each sheet through a curling position, and a smooth burnishing cylinder positioned in resilient contact with the sheet as it is driven through the curling position for forming a convolute hollow rod-like article.
 2. A device as claimed in claim 1 wherein said cutoff means includes a driver roll for moving a continuous flexible sheet and a cutoff roll having a plurality of knives secured to its periphery.
 3. A device as claimed in claim 1 wherein said driver roller has a resilient outer surface for providing a resistive contact with the flexible sheet while moving the shEet through the curling position.
 4. A device as claimed in claim 1 wherein said burnishing cylinder is one of a plurality of burnishing cylinders, equally spaced on a rotatable wheel.
 5. A device as claimed in claim 4 wherein said rotatable wheel is a star wheel formed with recesses intermediate the burnishing cylinders for receiving and temporarily storing the convoluted articles formed in the curling position.
 6. A device as claimed in claim 4 wherein said rotatable wheel is coupled to an intermittent linkage which retains the rotatable wheel in a position where one of said burnishing cylinders is in contact with the sheet moved through the curling position by the driver roller, and then moves the rotatable wheel to a new position where an adjacent burnishing cylinder is in contact with the driver roller.
 7. A device as claimed in claim 5 wherein a stripping rod is positioned adjacent to said star wheel for retaining the convoluted articles in the recesses in the star wheel until the articles are adjacent to a conveyor means.
 8. A method for forming hollow rod-like articles from a continuous web of paper sheet material comprising the steps of: passing the web of paper sheet through a cutoff means where sections of a predetermined length of paper sheet are sequentially formed; sequentially curling each length of paper sheet by passing same through the nip of a stationary burnishing cylinder and a rotatable, resiliently faced driver cylinder; and sequentially moving each curled length of paper sheet to an accessible position.
 9. A method as claimed in claim 8 wherein said cutoff operation includes passing the paper web through the junction of two rollers, one of which supports spaced radial knives and the other is formed with cooperating slots.
 10. A method as claimed in claim 8 wherein the curled lengths of paper sheet are moved by a star wheel that is intermittently held stationary during a curling operation and then moved to a new position while removing the curled section. 